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Q : Just a quicky out of interest - Are you guys
musicians or just collectors. You don't give away much but I suspect from your comments about playability that you can
actually play a guitar.
A : Well that one was to the point and a well placed question. Put it this way - Our
touring days are over because of zimmer frame access to most venues ( for some of us ) but yes , we have been know to
spank the plank once in a while and quite well with a total playing time ( on guitars ) of the 4 members of our little band
well in excess of 100 years. Thats older than Keith Richards .. We will at some stage enter the spirit of this society
of sharing everything and put something together for U Tube or whatever. Might need some help with that if there are
any local volunteers..
Q : I wonder if you can help - I'm
buying a Greco Les Paul on E Bay and the guitar has a normal amount of wear and dinks and stuff for its age and he has given
it a 8.5/10 rating . Is there a standard for this sort of thing.
A: Well there was a standard once but
we can't put our finger on it at the moment but as far as we can see on e bay and the likes most sellers just make it
up . We bet also that the seller described it as " normal condition for age or whatever " and maybe even added that
this has just added to the vintage appeal of the guitar. This of course is total crap and just demonstrates that
the seller is either too bone idle to give a detailed condition report or doesn't have a clue what he/she is talking about.
On an item like this you are entitled to a full report within reason and we just lose interest . The normal amount
of dinks / damage etc. for a 30 year old used guitar is NONE - anything more than that is abnormal and the last thing it does
is add to the appeal.
We like to see a mint condition guitar in terms of woodwork etc. but some fretwear on a guitar
such as this indicates that it was well used and looked after .. by a person and not a monkey.. A bit harsh but you touched
a nerve ..
Following complaints which we always take notice of - the end is now at the beginning - Starting
HERE- That is to say that from this point all new winges , moans and completely worthless items of absolutely
no interest are added to the front to save all that scrolling down. Thats life .. Well it isn't actually
- The end definitely isn't at the beginning - Unless you are a drummer of course ..
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Hey you guys - Love what you are doing and the guitars are amazing but
I can do you a better site for a contibution ( or axe of my choice ). Tim..
Thats jolly decent of you Tim - Don't know how we can resist
. OK the site isn't stuffed full of " Flash" graphics and hyperlinks but it does the job. We aren't a business but just
a pair of old guitar nurds and thats what is important to us..
Hiya - As a proud owner of a 78 Ibanez Les paul Lawsuit I would like to add to your
comments one reason these vintage guitars are better which you seemed to have overlooked. Basically as well as being largely
handmade they used properly dried wood which is now 40 years old. You CANNOT replicate this. Ask any violinist.. John Paul
- Ipswich.
Thanks for that John Paul - Totally agree with you. Years of playing
also adds a lot and give the wood life. Interesting analogy with violins but you are right -all of the great ones are 100's
years old aren't they..
Did you know there two reasons that pickguards get taken off . Reason 1 is because
the guitar looks better but reason 2 and less obvious is that the plastic they are made of gives off a gas as they degrade
over many years and this gas eats yer chrome work if left in the case.
Hi caller - No we didn't know reason two - Thats good info and we may
put it on our Good Info page -Thanks..
Hiya - Straight question. How does a Korean Epi compare with the USA ones .
Straight answer but maybe not quite as short. It doesn't . Epiphone moved
production to Japan in the late 80's and the Orville boys and gals started making them and all was fine - These were great
- They then moved to Korea and I'm pretty sure ended up being made in China. Commercial decisions which increased numbers,
reduced cost and destryed a great name. In my opinion ( gotta be careful here ) they are more interested in making profit
than guitars.
Same can allegedly be said for other once great names making great
guitars eg: Squeir, Aria, Burns, Tokai etc.etc.etc. Just not the same. As some of these makers have been a bit trigger happy
with the lawsuits in the past I have to add that - this is my opinion - Hmmm-
What is in your opinion the best guitar ever.
Matt.
Thats a pretty broad question Matt and doesn't take into account
your tastes or styles etc. Im not particularly a Strat or Gibson man but if I had a choice I would probably go for a 59 Les
Paul , an opinion shared by many of the greats. Moving away from the world of fantasy I love all of our guitars but would
say that the Orvilles do it for me , probably because they are the closest to a 59 as mere mortals can get. On the other hand
I love playing my little Greco Danelectro copy which is cheap as chips.. Thanks for the question - it has just started an
argument..
I see this is becoming a question and answer page instead of comments and mine is
another question .Hope you don't mind . What is Bubinga ? Impressed with your knowledge by the way .
Hey - thanks. Don't be too impressed - we only publish the ones we know
or can look up. Its a tree I am lead to believe from which some guitars are made because it sounds nice. Not the guitar -
the word !!!
Pre 1992 good makers used to use timbers like Bazillian rosewood or proper
mahogany but that is banned now - Another reason to buy one of our guitars - Blame Sting -
Have you noticed how all of the answers end up with a little plug for
our stuff - Pretty slick hey -
Just a quick one from me here - A few friends came around last night
for a sort of re union and a tinker with some of the guitars in these pages. One of the guys was an old buddy from my band
days and for the first time in over 35 years we rattled our way through the first few bars of House of the Rising Sun. Both
out of tune - well he was. It was a special moment for me. Thanks Raj / Mike / Bob.
Allen has asked what evidence is there that these older vintage instruments are better
than the new stuff available. He has just bought a brand new Ibanez and says it looks great - which it undoubtedly does. The
question has prompted a little article in the Interesting info section - so if you really want to know "our" answer -----
While I'm here just to report that I went to the Gary Moore / BB King Wembley concert
this week - A privalege -
Hi - Great site and very informative . I have got the message about what great value these guitars are but is there a
BEST value one. I want one I can play.
Joe -
Hi Joe - BIG question my friend and one which also depends on yer tastes. Value for money is high on all
of them compared to what tosh you get new for the same amount. Some of the earlier ones ( 60's / 70's ) have a value because
of rarity and not necessarily because they are great axes but you want a player.
We got our twin heads together and took a vote and as an example we feel that Aria Pro II ( pre 87 Japan )
and Squeir Japan should fetch more because they are great guitars. Problem is they went out of Japan for cheap volume production
and these great earlier examples are now influenced by the utter c**p being produced under the same name. Allegedly ..
Its happening to almost all of the greats and is such a shame.
Us old pair went to the London Guitar Show last weekend at the Wembly Conference Centre and very good it
was to, but it has convinced us that everything we preach here is spot on. There is nothing to match these old vintage
axes at anywhere near the price - Not one - Zilch -
We watched a guy ( and very good he was as well ) demonstrating a guitar with an onboard computer that made
a passable piano or trombone sound - drums and chirping birds even. I mean, whats the point in that, can you see Clapton
or Gary Moore up there enthralling audiences with piano recitals or Hank Marvin giving us a rendition of Apachy on a trombone
- I think not !!! What it didn't do particularly well was a guitar sound. !!!!
I should have stuck withyou guys and the Greco but thought I could do better , or at least cheaper by getting one imported
from Japan. The axe was cheap enough at around 200notes and described as excellent but by the time freight of 80 quid and
then £61 Customs and to add insult to injury £12.50 shippers handling total had almost doubled. The guitar was OK but
had mis matched pups and was very tired. It has now been e bayed at a loss. Just though everyone should know.
Thanks Steve - We have heard this story so many times but not only of Japan - where most of the dealers are
actually very honourable but of USA and also some EU countries can be problematic with payment terms and returns etc. We do
import from Japan but have a friendly musician contact who can check things out. The add on costs are a killer though and
with Japan prices rising it soon will not be worthwhile. Also remember that most of the good stuff never makes it onto
the auction sites - there is no need..
Now lets start sorting you out with a proper guitar..
I have to appologise to a number of avid readers who have noticed a fall off in the updates going on to the
site. This has been entirely due to the fact that we seemed to have had a summer this year and have been out enjoying
it. Normal service will be resumed soon...
Here is a little snippet for your blurb - Anton -
Fender Statement.
Dan Smith, Director of Marketing, Electric Guitars for Fender
said when he and some other executives from Fender USA inspected the Fuji Gen-Gakki plant (where Japanese Fenders
are made) back in the early '80's:
"Everybody came up to inspect them and the guys almost cried, because
the Japanese product was so good - it was what we had been having a hell of a time trying to do."
Blurb !!! We prefer to think of it as informative
unbiased information . Anyway , we like that one Anton - Thanks...
Once in a while we have a gathering of the clan which starts out with the good intention of talking guitars and generally
re living highlights of our mis spent formative years but which quite quickly slides into conversation of a less artistic
nature down the pub. We usually manage to struggle through a few bars of House of the Rising Sun but this time only managed
about 8. Thirsty work you know.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I received complaints that I didn't report the previous meet, hence this drivel which
probably is of no interest whatsoever to anyone else - but hey - It's my ball.
Note : We continue to get kind offers from the techies to build us a decent website in exchange for a guitar.
No deal I'm afraid boys and girls. The site works just fine and as most visitors know what a great sound these axes make there
is no need to try to demonstrate it thro a speaker the size of my wristwatch..
Hi you guys - I love your site and the guitars - Not sure about
the attempt at humour but then I am American and I am led to believe it is something British . Anyway, bottom line. Would
you be interested in selling the whole thing ? Thats the site, the guitars the customer base in other words the whole shooting
match.. Ted
Ho Ted,
Not to turn the answer into an epic - Yes.
As far as the customer base is concerned due to data protection laws
we will have to ask him. Sorry, couldn't resist a bit of british humour. Did you notice it ???
Seriously , we are always happy to talk business despite this being a
non business.
Don't worry regulars - we would soon be up and running again ..
Hey everyone - We have to say that we are touched by the
concern exhibited by some of you at the possible sell off of the site to USA. Well just to put your minds at rest
, it ain't gonna happen . A reasonable price was offered and left poor ole Ted gasping for air . So we are not to follow in
the footsteps of the BAA , Landrover , Rolls Royce etc.
I am just starting out collecting and also want to do a bit of horse
trading just like you guys and maybe develop it into a business but need a bit of help . Where do you get your guitars
and in such nice condition . Any advice is welcome.
JJ.
No secret JJ - As a valued repeat customer we would love to help you
but not to the point of disclosing our collector friends overseas who source out guitars. These were hard won and we made
a lot of mistakes on the way and the site is actually the result of a lot of hard work for quite a few years. You won't believe
this one but as a business it barely pays its way but the pleasure comes in an increasingly impressive collection. Who
told you about the horse ? I thought we had destryed the evidence of that deal..
We had to add this one:
I have been reading your site and generally found it very informative and interesting but there are quite a few spelling
mistakes which are a bit off putting - -bla bla bla -
Oh dear - arrange these words into a well known phrase or saying :
Life get a.
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Hey - I keep seeing these guys selling off good Fenders on e bay in bits .. Like separate auctions
for the neck and body etc. Whats going on ???
Yea we keep seeing that as well. The value of
the bits seems to work out more than the complete guitar - but we do know one guy that uses this trick to get rid of guitars
he can't set up cos they are twisted. To break up ANY classic is a sin and as far as I'm concerned these guys are timber
merchants and probably scumbags as well .. Sorry got a bit carried away there.
To all avid readers and we know there
are a few. Profound appologies for not keeping this page up to date . To be honest its all we can do to keep up with the questions
you keep sending and the regular technical breakdowns of the site. So until futher notice we will not be adding to this section
- unless its something really juicy of course or unless there is something you would particularly like published.
We stopped publishing all the complimentary
e mails ages ago because we would just spend all day adding them to this section.....
Gotta add this one :
Our American friends seem to be struggling with the apparent price increase in guitars on our site and ebay here in the
UK saying what was £500 a year ago is now £800 as an example. What has not been grasped despite numerous attempts to explain
it is that the guitars are very much the same price here but the Dollar is Crap at almost 2 dollars to One Pound.
Blame George Bush and Iraq Guys and not us . The world hasn't gone up . Hopefully this won't warrent a cruise
missile attack on Hertfordshire.
The real message though - We can now BUY from USA.. and Hey - we love you really ..
This one as well..
A recent TRUE conversation we had with a buyer of a rather nice Orville on e bay.
Question after Sale : I can't see how to plug this guitar into the wall
Our Reply 1 : It doesn't plug into the wall sir - That is actually dangerous - It plugs into an amplifier
which plugs into the wall.
Buyers response : You didn't say anything about an amplifier - I want my money back or I will
give you negative feedback.
Our Reply : Gladly Sir - May I suggest the money is spent on an education
We are still waiting for a response ... And he bought an Orville , one of the finest guitars you can own - Makes you
think dunnit.
True Story and Rather Sweet.
Debbie mailed us to ask what her guitar was worth - something we don't do by the way -
Anyway we asked her to send us a picture and guess what ?
She sent a picture of herself.
Nice pair of pickups there Debbie ..
Q. You have a great collection of Yamaha SG's there, probably the best in the world. Are they as good
as you say ?
A. We think so but I'm sure there are a few less public collections around.
Q. I see someone tried to buy HG a while back complete. I know from trying to buy individual
guitars from your collection that most of the axes are not for sale but is buying the whole thing still a possibility.
A. Hey - we would sell our collective Grannies for the right price but HG wouldn't be cheap
because it is the culmination of about 8 years work now and a LOT of searching . Try us though and if it helps any I will
throw in my Granny for free.
Hello - What effect do you think this worldwide economic downturn will have on your guitars or vintage guitars
generally . Is it worth buying at the moment or better to wait. Jenna
Hiya Jenna - I will pass you over to the HG economics department .
Hello - Me again . Now please understand we know sod all about economics but that won't stop us spilling out a
few thoughts. So far there doesn't seem to be much difference and quality vintage guitars are certainly not going down but
they are more expensive to buy from Japan in particular because the Pound is weak against the Yen so if anything prices will
rise. But people are concerned about jobs and things so are holding back on spending and others are selling good guitars to
get by so prices will fall for a while. These two opposite forces seem to balance out at the moment. The thing is that
if the world runs out of money they can print more or if everyone wants gold they can dig up more - same with diamonds and
all manner of "things " - BUT you CANNOT make more vintage guitars - Eventually they will dry up and the signs are their
already but just as many people if not more will want one - Demand will outstrip supply which means they will continue to
go up. We are banking on it . Yes if you have money we recon its the best time for years to buy . Better than keeping it in
a dodgy bank.
But what do we know ??
Additional Comments : A month has gone past since the last comments and sure enough Japan prices are forever going up.
Reason 1 is that the Yen is strong against other currencys and Reason 2 is that the Japanese are also avid collectors and
there just ain't enough good examples left to keep everyone happy. The place to by from at the moment from overseas seems
to be the UK because the pound sterling is very poorly and if they start printing more money the best place for your savings
is not in the bank. Scary stuff.
Hey - on a lighter note - Its Christmas.
Hi Guys - I have tried without success in the past to buy some of your guitars but you really are
a collection aren't you. Not that this constitutes an offer but would you sell the lot .
Ello - Yes we have been down this road before . Short answer is yes we would sell the whole thing including
the website but as you correctly point out we are a collection and do not sell the guitars individually unless we end up with
two identical. If someone out there does have the dosh and space it would be a fantastic investment with prices having steadily
increased for years now and they still are even through the mess that is the stock market. Before anyone reads this
and asks for a price we would not give one unless we know it is a serious enquiry and then it would be face to face.
Regulars - Don't Panic we would use the dosh to start collection number two .
Hiho - I put some 14s strings on my USA SG to fatten up the sound but there is a considerable distance now
between the strings and the fretboard and the bridge won't go any lower - Which way should I crank the truss rod or any suggestions
welcome. Thanks - Tonto -
Hi Tonto - Great name. We saw your mate a few days ago down the bank - The Loan Arranger - Groan - and you need to be
over 50 to understand it. Anyway about the SG ( USA model ) Yikes ! where did you find 14's and why ? First of
all you need a big hammer . Seriously my friend , take em off NOW before your headstock migrates to close proximity to the
bridge and you can limbo dance under them. The neck on these is pretty bendy at the best of times and strings that fat all
tuned up are just bending it slowly into a U shape. 10s should be plenty. If your sound is weak check the resistance of the
pickups or better still get a techy to do it - After its all set up check that the gap between the pickups is about 1/8th
inch with the strind pushed down at the last fret and make sure the amp is plugged in. Truss rods are not for cranking by
the uninitiated . Maybe a good idea to take off the railway lines and let the guitar rest for a few days. Poor thing .
Following compaints we now add new comments to the top thus saving all that
scrolling down . We conclude that scrolling either is far too much exercise or the content is dissapointing once you get here.
So This should be
THE old END
WITH THE NEW LAST ITEM AT THE BEGINNING - AND THIS WAS MEANT
TO BE EASY
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